What Not To Do With Your Lightweight Strollers
Buying lightweight strollers is great idea. They make life really easy, whether you choose a stroller frame for a car seat or an all in one, having a stroller you can easily pitch in and out of the car and deal with, with one hand is worth it’s weight in gold.
The Things I Have Seen!
In a sense I feel a bit silly writing this post. I mean doesn’t everybody understand what a stroller is for? Of course they do! But the truth is we are all tempted at times to do silly things. We don’t always fast forward to the consequences. So these are just some sagely words of advice to keep you from automatically doing something you might not think through, especially when you are managing sleep deprivation, loaded with shopping bags or grocerys and just trying to get your child to nap time as fast as possible. Sometimes we all leave our common sense behind.
Put It In The Cargo Net
Those cargo nets on your stroller are great, you can get a ton of stuff in there. If you overload them at times, it’s probably not going to hurt your stroller and the worst that might happen is that it might tear a little or break. Did you ever wonder why they are always tucked down in the bottom of the stroller? It’s called centre of gravity. No matter what you pile in there it isn’t going to in anyway have the opportunity to tip your stroller over. That’s the only place to put extra stuff.
Don’t Hang Bags From The Handles
The thing that I see people do time after time, which is just a disaster in the offing, is hang bags from your stroller handles. It’s very tempting, they are often shapped perfectly to hold a bag and it’s so convenient to just stick it there, right? For something very light, like a greeting card it isn’t a problem. But the thing is people usually don’t do that, they hang their grocery bags there or a bag full of clothes. We forget out baby’s don’t weight very much and even so, they aren’t designed to be ballast. So the minute you take your hand of the stroller over, it goes, baby and all. I’ve seen it time and time again, it’s not a pretty scene.
The Child Goes In The Seat
If you are thinking I’m stating the obvious, of course you are correct. However, it’s amazing how often I have seen the child in the most unusual and dangerous configurations. Just the other day, I was driving down Light Dr, the last street in my neighbourhood before I get home, and there as a lady whom I know, with her 2 year old up on top of the handles of her Graco DuoGlide. Now the DuoGlide is a hefty stroller, not a lightweight, but just the same it was simple a disaster waiting to happen. I stoppped my car, gave my friend a quick physics lesson and explained how quickly that stroller would go over backwards. I hope she doesn’t do it again. A two or three foot fall onto concrete for a 2 year old results in a trip to the ER in the best case!
If You Want To Jog, Get A Jogging Stroller
Let me relate a personal experience. Not long after we picked up our city twin, my wife, unbeknownst to me, packed up our oldest, two at the time, and took her out for a jog. Sure, it has be air filled rear wheels, but the front ones, while sturdy, were not capable of curb hopping and pot hole skating. The jog went fine until the first slightly uncut curb was encountered, then the stroller went over, two year old and all. The poor little girly fortunately was none the worse for wear, but it could have been a very different ending. The moral of the story is there are great jogging strollers out there, it’s not worth potentially hurting your little one trying to make due with what you have.
We’ve All Done It
It’s not difficult to do something silly and dangerous where strollers are concerned. At all times try to stop and think before you hang that bag set that brake on a steep hill expecting it work perfectly. Strollers are great machines and typically well designed. Remember there’s a little life in there. That should prevent you from doing some of the things I have seen.
Who Needs LightWeight Strollers?
If you have an infant or toddler and they like to travel in the stroller a lot then you need too look at lightweight strollers. We have several strollers, but we haven’t necessarily paid a lot of money for them. But considering how long you are likely to have your children and how often you travel with them, it makes a lot of sense to have a variety of strollers.
The Economic Arguement
If you are careful with your money like we are are then you might be thinking this is frivolous or ridiculous. But the truth is, it actually makes a lot of sense to carve your stroller budget in two and divide it between your activities. In this case, consider for the most part that your life can be split into two basic parts. The everyday tasks, grocery, the mall and the trips in and out of the car. The second part is the rest. The longer day activities, the all day shopping trips, the time at the beach, trips to Grandmas house etc. Essentially, the activities that require more preparation and more “baby stuff”.
The Everday Stroller
We have essentially two sets of strollers. We have the big beast for the times when we are going to be out all day, perhaps a picnic or a nature walk or for the beach. And then we have a lightweight for virtually everything else. The lightweight is big enough to hold baby, a few diapers and wipes, a bubby and maybe a sweater, that’s it. It’s super light, easy to fold, easy to throw in the car, super easy to maneuver, fits through all doorways and is very easy to actually push. Also, you can fold it with one hand and pitch it the car while holding baby with the other.
Umbrella, CarSeat Carrier Or All-In-One ?
The choices can once again get confusing, but here’s a simple way to think about it. You have already invested in a car seat and you are buying a lightweight most likely for the time when your child is less than about a year old. So the most logical choice, and incidentally the least expensive is the stroller frame that takes a carseat. They come with drink holders, and a cargo net so all of your bases are covered. Also, though they may seem silly, you should consider your lightweight somewhat disposable and spend accordingly.
Don’t Spend Much
In my opinion, it doesn’t make any sense to spend two or three hundred dollars on your lightweight. Spend less than a 
hundred. Save the rest for your bigger unit where you can appreciate and use the features for those times when you need them. And if for reason it gets badly beat up during your day to day routine, just get a new one. Odds are your child will be too old need it by the time it gets that old anyway.
Smart Choices
The great thing is, there’s lots of stroller manufacturers that make lightweight strollers! There two that I usually will tell friends and family to check are the Jeep Universal and the Graco Snugrider. Both are available from Amazon ( that’s important to me – great prices! ), both are inexpensive, both take a carseat and both are super light. If you would like a comparison review, then have a look at this post on Jeep vs. Graco.. If you want to look at Amazon prices and reviews you can find the Jeep Universal here and the Graco Snugrider here. You really can’t go wrong with either one.
Which Is The Best Lightweight Stroller – Jeep Universal Or Graco SnugRider?
If you are looking for a decent inexpensive stroller, there are lots of choices. I could fill this entire article with the model names and manufacturers of products for strollers and car seats. I mean if there is one then there is a hundred! But it can be fairly simple to narrow down your choices once you start to do a little online research. There are some great systems our there, like the Graco Snugride system, which is essentially stroller car seat and all. But the Graco Snugrider is the stroller by itself and that’s what I’m reviewing and comparing in this article? I am comparing it to the Jeep Universal Car Seat Carrier.
Why Use These Carriers?
These two units perform essentially the same task, namely that you can attach your little one’s car seat to the strolly without having to take your baby out of his or her car seat. This is an enormous convenience, especially when your child is very young. The safest place for them, quite frankly, is in the car seat! They are are surrounded by high impact plastic and padding of which the sole task is to protect the child from harm. Of course being zipped along in a stroller also tends to be the happiest place your baby can be. They love to look around and take it all in and all babies love the motion.
Super Convenient
The convenience is another great reason to use a lightweight stroller. It’s simple to add a carseat to a stroller and the easiest way to tote your little one around is by leaving them in the stroller.
Which LightWeight Stroller Is Better?
We reduced the number of choices through experimentation down to two. By experimentation I mean renting or borrowing a similar unit. Amusement parks often rent different types of strollers you can try. It’s a good way to figure it out. So here is the comparison as penned by us:
Cosco, Safety 1st, Evenflo, Graco, and Maxi Cosi |
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The Winner – Jeep
Why the Jeep? It is slightly lighter, has a bit bigger wheels and takes any car seat. The strap is perfectly secure in my opinion and I find the unit to be generally a little easier to handle. The adjustable handle would ordinarily shift my opinion, but in this case the Jeep height seems to suit us both just fine.
Many Car Seats
The final reason, however, is the universal car seat feature. I have 3 kids and of the course of the years have purchased a couple of different brands of infant seat. One was a Graco infant, but one wasn’t. If you are a hardcore Graco fan, the Snugrider lightweight stroller will serve you well, but if you have no particular coporate allegiance, in this instance I would recommend the Jeep Universal as my choice. If you agree with me, you can find the Jeep Universal on Amazon right here. If you don’t agree you can find the Graco Snugrider also over here! I find Amazon usually has the best prices and they tend to take care of their customers.
Maclaren Volo Stroller Lightweight, Stylish And A Smart Buy
The Maclaren Volo Stroller comes in a variety of colours, black of course, pink, green and a few others. This is important because of the nicest things about the Maclaren products, in my opinion, and the Volo in particular is their style. The nice folks at Maclaren don’t just treat lightweight strollers as an acessory or appliance, they actually bother to put some effort into adding some style. And that to me, means something. After all, why shouldn’t your stroller design included a little visual esthetic? There is nothing wrong of course with sticking with the basics. The fundamental propertys are the most important thing. You want it to be sturdy, safe and comfortable for your child. But these days, with all the baby strollers designs out there, these things are usually well covered.
Life With Some Style
If you are like me and my wife and you also like things that are nice, then Maclaren is still a smart buy. I mean, for a essentially a sidewalk and mall stroller you are going to spend most likely under a hundred and fifty bucks. But the Maclaren’s bring more than that. For example, if you check out the Maclaren on Amazon here, you will also see that they have a variety of seat liners. A big variety! You can customize your mall stroller to make it unique to you and your child. To me, thats just cool. And when I refer to style it’s those sort of things I am talking about.
Maclaren makes the effort to give you accessories that look nice but are still functional. You could buy a few of those liners and as they inevitably wear over time you can wash and/or replace them as suits your needs. We have three kids, each child as they came up through our series of strollers got their own liner. It makes it unique to them and makes the thing feel new again. Those liners are reversible too of course in case maybe you feel like a solid color one day and a pattern the next. If you are looking for a review on a stroller that takes a car seat, have a look at this lightweight baby strollers review
Designed For Real Life
The other great thing about the Maclaren Volo Lightweight stroller is the fact that they include the things that you need for everyday life without making you buy them afterwards. Example:
- 5 Point Harness – Every stroller should have this in my opinion. Maclaren does it right, it’s easy to hookup and its strong
- Washable Seat – They are kids. This is not negotiable!
- Foot Operated Brakes – I like being able to just give that thing a kick and move on. Lots of times my hands are full when I need to release the brake.
- Rain Cover Included – Yup, you get it with the unit, you don’t have to buy it seperately. I’m out with my kids rain or shine, this is just a no-brainer for me
- Small And Foldable – A small stroller like this should essentially dissappear once folded, thats part of the appeal. This one does, folds up nice small. Watch those hinges though, they can bite.
- Super Light – Without the hood and rain cover this thing weighs just under 9 pounds. Nine Pounds!
Not A Trail Rider
This little buggy is great, it’s light and its versatile. But it’s not a trail rider. Nope sorry, don’t do it! We made that mistake once with out Graco and it came back, basically in pieces. Lesson learned, please don’t repeat out mistake. Get the bugaboo frog or cameleon if you need an awesome trail or beach stroller.
The Maclaren Volo is a stylish, nice looking machine that makes you feel good about strolling around with your kids? I mean, why not do it in style? Not everything baby related has to be juvenile colours or pale white or gray. If that sounds good to you you can check it out on Amazon right here. I find they usually have the best prices and return policy on most things.
Is The Graco Snugrider Good Lightweight Strollers?
I think it is. I think it’s a great stroller. Like all strollers it has it’s plus and minuses, but there a couple of things that set this one apart and their are some really cool features that make it irresitable in my opinion. If you are in the market for a great stroller but maybe don’t know quite where to start, the Graco Snugrider is about the best lightweight stroller choice you can make.
A Good Start
When we had out first baby, we didn’t know where to start, didn’t want to spend a ton of money, but needed a stroller right away. The fun, exotic stroller shopping didn’t come until later. This unit fit the bill perfectly. And we also used it for our third child when the the older two were no longer interested in strolling.
Small And Compact
The most important feature is it’s size. Sure, it’s sturdy enough on four wheels to hold the carseat and your coffee, but there is no more there than needs to be to get the job done. Graco reconizes that a lightweight stroller has to be exactly that and they have done a great job making sure of it. Without the carseat attached it only weighs 15 pounds! We have had one of our baby’s weigh more than that! I don’t know about anybody else, but if I have the carseat with the baby in one hand I need to be able to deal with the stroller with the other. Which leads me to the next awesome feature.
One Hand Folding
This is absolutely one of the most important features in a lightweight stroller design. The one hand fold and automatic latching. Again it goes back to the same thing I find myself doing. I might not be quite organized enough to take the carseat out and latch it in the car before I deal with the stroller. Or I might be parked on an incline or some other awkward situation that demands I deal with the stroller immediately. In this instance the one hand fold and latch is essential. Drop the stroller to fold and pitch it in the car all with one hand. It’s great.
( By the way, I have a few more stroller reviews over here – yes, I’ve bought a lot of them….)
A List of Good Stuff
This is a list of the important things to have on any stroller. Graco of course has it covered.
- Cargo Basket – Honestly, how far are you going to get without your baskset for all that baby stuff?
- Handles You Can Adjust – My wife and I are not the same height. Those handles have to move which they do. It shocks me that some strollers don’t have this.
- Cup Holders – Have to have them. Coffee for me, sippy cup for baby.
- Takes All Graco Carseats – The whole point of this stroller is to flip it open quickly and attach the carseat. Graco makes about a zillion car seats and they all fit on this thing.
What It’s Not
This stroller is super light and easy to deal with in and our of the car. But it there are somethings you shouldn’t use it for. It’s not an all terrain stroller, it’s just not. It’s great for malls and sidewalks and airports. It’s not for jogging. In fact it’s not for even a slow jog. Don’t do it. And it’s not all that great for curb hopping. If thats what you are looking for, check out more baby strollers at this site. But if you need an inexpensive starter stroller that you can zip around town with, you can’t beat it. If you want to check prices and so on, have a look at it on Amazon.com.
